Drier.



M. T. CASS.

` nme.' APrucArln min mn. :1n-191e.

Pamanted` Mar. 13, 1917.

ZSI'IEETS--SHEET 2. l

Invent/'on Myro'nT. (141:33

l *Atty Ix UNITED STATES PATENT DFFICE.

MYRON T. Cass, or soHENECTAfDm NEW Yonx, Assn; son or ONE-HALF To THE KELLAM sa SHAFFER COMPANY, A GOBPORATIoN 0F NEW Yonx.

DBIEB.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mal'. 13, 1917.

Application tiled March 31, 1916. Serial No 88,153.

To all whom'itmag/ concer-n.'

Be it known that I, MrnoN T. CASS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Schenectady, county of Schenectady, State of New York, ha ve invented certain new and -useful Ilnpro @ments in Driers, of which the following is a specification.

In the manufacture of certain materials, notably plaster and asphalt, large nantilies o'l' liv sand are required, and 1t frequently happens that the output from a given plant has to be substantially reduced or temporarily interrupted due to the failure ot' the sand supply.

I-leretoforc there vhave been available to the manufacturer two types of .sand driers which are arranged to be parts of permanent installations. One of these comprises a receptacle into which wel' sand is fed at the top, the dry sand escaping at the bottom, the feed being by gravity. Inside of the receptacle are numerous pipes, or coils, fed with steam from a suitable boiler. Under certain specified conditions this machine operates quite satisfactorily, but it takes a lot of steam and is, therefore, uneconomical. Il" the sand contains more than a. small percentage of loam vit 'is almost impossible. to dry and pass it through the machine by gravity. Ii the machine clogs, as it sometimes docs when the content of foreigni'ihatter in the sand is too great, it takes hours to clean it. The second is of the centrifugal type, and briefly stated, comprises a high speed veittical shaft rotor having ya plurality of dishe'd members mounted thereon and a surrounding lcasing 'containing in (-liued ledges which receive sand from one of said members and deliver it to the next lower one. Heatris l:admitted to the bottom and flows upwardly; escaping at the top. A suitable source of power is employed to drive the rotor. Thismachine is expensive to con struct and requires a large amount of drivingr power, which is expensive. It also requires a source of heat.A Neither of these driers are of thc portable type and hence cannot meet many requirements.

Vlie object of my invention is to provide drier of simple construction and one that is inexpensive and reliable in operation and wheh will meet the requirements of the contras-tors who travel about from street to :arret and from r-ity to city. and onewhich does not. require the serrices of a licensed engineer or `other skilled Workman to operate it.

In the acct mpanying drawings' is illustrated one of ehe embodiments of my inven tion, in which Figure 1 is a view in side cle vation of the irier; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section; F ig. 3 is a rear elevation; Fig. 4 is a detail view showing one of the Scrapers, and Fig. 5 is 1 detail view of a distributer.

For a consideration of what I believe to4 be noveland :ny invention, attention is directed to' the lrccompanying description and claims appended thereto.

The drier comprises a box-like body structure 10 having" double walled floor, sides, and top, the purpose of said walls being to prevent the iree radiation of heat. The parts Will ordinarily be made of thin sheet iron fastened to Suitable beams of the required strengtfi. The Space or air; chamber 11 between thi walls may be lilled with va noneconducting; material if desired, but or dinarily the daa'd air in the chambers will sufiic'e for the purposes. Under the front end of the btdyis ,a pair of small iron wheels 12 tha; may be rolled under it to facilitate turni rig. These Wheels are mountred on a snitul le axle 13 having the usual turn-table and king bolt connection with the body. To the front of the axle is re. movably secured a. tongue or handle 14 by means of which -the apparatus may be dragged about. At the rear the body is supported by two relatively large iron `wheels 15 f'that are miuntcd on the ends of a Uf Located below the body.

shaped axle' 1l. and supported by Athe axle'is a tire box or furnace 17 of any suitable construction. Preferably it is built of tire brick and inclosed in a sui-1 able casing 1S that is bolted or otherwise attached to the body. At the rear is a fire drm- 19, Fig. f-, through which fuel, such as (oke, can be introduced' and the ashes removed.

0n one side of the body is a platform carrying a Sina l internal combustion engine 2O for drivingr the various pulleys, for a purpose to be described. later. through the 1nedium of chains` belts, or* equivalent devices. At the rear is r burketeh` ator 2l for raising! sand from ille source of supply and discharging'- it into a hopper .42 lot-.ated at the top ot' the, u'iarline. The elevator is `hinged on the shaft 23 and the latter is carried by brackets 24: see u'ed to the body. The clewhat are terior of the body is provided with a num 29 connected as best shown in by' disconnecting vator can be swun` around the shaft.23 as\ a pivot andrimtted to rest on the body drier is being transported. from to another, or .it maybe removed the shaft 23 from the.

oneplac'e brackets.

Referring particularly to Fig. 2, the 1; r of relatively thin metal-platforms 25 located one above the other. Where the height of the drier has to lielimited, as is usually the case on account lofthe lack of head ro'om under railroad bridges, the platforms are disposed horizontally, but where the height is not,limited they may be inclined in opposite directions so that gravitywill assist in feeding the sand. These platforms extend from side to side of the body and are secured in any desired, manner. If desired, crossbars 26 may be vused to prevent sagging in the center. The platforms are somewhat shorter than the interior length of the body so` as to permit the sand to pass from one platform tothe next, andalso to afford fines or ductsfor the passage of the hot gases fromvthe tire box to the outlet or chimney 27. Located at oppositeends of each platform are pairs of sprocket wheels 28 and by tivo chains 30, one on each Side of .ma withal-.he body walls and C105@ thereto. Tllfese chainsare .connected at freuent intervals by cross-bars or scrap'ers 31, Fig. 4. To obtain the best results each should have a flat foot or porand second to avoid the necess dragged along by from rocking as it is the sidev chains. Preferably .also the front end is shaped, as by beveling, to cause it to dig under the sand instead of riding over it and thus continuously move it. There will be more or less sand cling to the chains as they-pass over the sprocket teeth, but as the parts are of robust character no serious injury4 will b e done. The bearingsBB, Fig. 1, for Vthe s rocket caring shafts 34 are, however, ocated outside the body walls, and as these walls are double no Aspecial pac-king meansA are neces- ,sary to preventthe sand from working outwardly.. The Scrapers should be close enough together to .insure the proper-movement of the sand without undue pilingup. at any point or points.v Furthermore, they should be relatively shallow, for two reasons-frst of sand so that it may tion 32' to vkeep it to insure a thin'layer be thoroughy-d'ried, 'ty of moving weight, meaning thereby, all the sand on a given platform. Asthe sand is discharged by the sera-pers at the right hand end of the upper platform it falls 'on the inclined guide'membe'r 37, and inso do ing its, mass is broken up, thereby insuring a thorough mixing ofthe dry and wet sand articles. This is important since otherwise only the top and bottom surfaces of the sand two great a proper path. are at opposite ends of the body they cause the member y y faster than itis moved by measured vertically,

would be directly exposed to the action of the heat. Another and important fepire of this arrangement is that it gives the oisture an opportunity to escape instead of bemg carried along w'th the sand. These inclined members also serve 'to prevent the hot gases from being shunted from their In other words, located as they the hot gases to flow through the chamber between the ,platforms serially. To assist in distributing the sand to the Scrapers of' the second platform a distributor is provided which comprises a depending' and pivotally supported member 38. It is mounted von a shaft that'extends through the walls of the body and has asuitable Weight arm 3f), Fig.- 1, or equivalent device to hold it in operative position. A stop 40 serves to prevent the member 38'from moving backward, but permits it to move forward against the action of the weight if the sand should momentarily pile up. The second platform and its Scrapers discharge sand at the left-hand end, and as it falls it againstrikes an inclined guide member 41 which delivers it to the bottom platform subject to the control of the distributer42. This lower platform and Scrapers deliver the sand to a hopper 43 leading to a point outside the machine. The wetA sand is fed intothe hopper 22 an 44 distributes it uniformly to the upper platform and Scrapers. As the ireis at the bottomit will be seen that in its passage the sand is subjectedto an'ever' increasing temperature. j

'Considering now the action Vof the hot ases from the fire. As they rise they flow into the elongated chamber 45 andas the inf clined members 41 and the sand flowing'. into the Scrapers from said members blocks them off at this point, they floiv to the right and around the end of the platform, thence into the elongated chamber 46, then into the .chamber 47 and around the end of the-upper platform into the` ney 2T, The san d is being continuously discharged from each platform by the Scrapers vat a suitable rate of speed which is relativelyv slow.

As the sand moves; under the action. .fgravity after leaving the platform hot gases will -not be unduly rest1"icte d1nE theirpassage from one longitudinal chamber to the next. Furthermore, the hot ases in their' passage particles, and in tional drying the under surfaces of the platforms 25 and this'heat ,is in'- turncommunicated to the sand thereon. The-passage of the hot gases' over the tops of this manner cause 'addi-l each layer serves to heat and', therefore, todry the same. lt will be seen that a characteristic fea# ture .of-the drier is that '1t divides the sand chamber 48 iothe chimf v the Scrapers, the

impart heat tothe.v Afa ling thereof. The hot gasesY heat -of sand also into thin layers, say two inches by way of illustration, which are heated both top and bottom, that the sand fed toward the fire, and that the hot gases pass longitudinally of the body -of sand from end to end, first in one direction and then in .the other, and always 'in a direction against the-direction of movement of the sand. A further and advantageous feature is the passage of the hot gases in streams which are traversed by the falling sand from the platforms. From actual operation l have found that a drier constructed in the preceding manner will effectively dry sand even though it contains a high percentage of loam, and this without clogging.

To move the various parts a small internal combustion engine 20 is mounted on the side of the body andis connected to the main driving pulley 49 through a hand controlled clutch 50, or speed reducing gears, or both, which permits the engine to be started and later to take up its load. This pulley is connected by a chain or belt :3l to a pulley 52 on. the countershaft 53 4from which other chains or belts con'miunicate motion to the other pulleys required to drive the various sprocket wheels connected to the elevator and to'the shafts which drive the Scrapers. The arrows indicate the directions of movement of the various pulleys. As the exhaust of the engine will carry with it a relatively large amount of heat, the exhaust pipe 57', therefore, opens into the lower chamber a5;`

and in this manner additional heat is given to the drier. To permit of access to the interior of the body for any purpose the front end is made in the form of hinged viss doors 54, see dotted lines Fig. 3, which are 'normally held closed by bars 55 that lit into sockets 56, Fig. 1.

I have described my invention in connection with the drying of sand, but it can also be used for drying stone, grit, or like materials As shown, dependence is placed on the natural draft to cause the gases to flow, but draft creating means can also be employed where desired; v

The speed of travel of the various scrapers will be governedvby the condition of the sand being treated, and thisV can readily be done by varying the speed of the engine, increasing or decreasing the fire, or both.

In accordancewith the provisions'of the patent statutes, I have described the principle of operation of my invention, together with the apparatus which I now consider to represent the best embodiment. thereof; but

' I desire to have it understood that the apparatus shown is only illustrative, and that lthe `invention can be carried on by other means.

'hat I claim as new and desire t0 secure hy Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. In a drier, thc combination of a hollow .livers hot gas to ,he lower chamber from body structure, p12 tfo'rms located one above the other which `intend between the Side' walls of the body and lare separated from the end walls, chambers between the platforms, a power dri /en scraper for each latform which receives the material to be ried at one end, moves` it longitudinally along said platform and discharges it at the other end, means which receive the material discharged from one platform, break up its mass and deliver it to the next lower platform, a ho )per for feedin material to the upper plat orm, ar Voutlet 01' the dried material at the lower end, a furnace which dewhich it flows through the other chambers, first in one direction and then in the other heating the under side of each platform and directl heating the material thereon, and an out et for said gases.

i2. In a drier, the combination of a hollow body structure, platforms locatedtherein, one above the oth'ei, which extend from side to side of the bod) and are separated from the end walls, lmg'itudinally extending chambers between the platforms through which hot gases piss back and forth, said chambers` being cor nected in series, Scrapers arranged to travel lengthwise of the platforms to move the material being dried and cause it to fall th ough the stream of'hot gases from the furnace, inclined members which receive the material from one platform, break up its mass and deliver it to the next lower platform, said members also serving to cause the hot gases to flowserially through the chambars, a fur'nace'located ben low the chambers and from which hot gases flow through said (hambers in' series, means for moving the scra pers, an inlet for the material to 4be dried located at' the top of the body, and an outlet for said material located at the bottom.

3. In a drier, the combination of a hollow4 body structure, platforms therein located one above the other, which extend from side to side ofthe body and are separated from .the end walls, sa'id )latforms defining chambers between them; means for moving the material to be dried over the platforms in ccession from the to) to the bottom, a

. rnace located at the .ottom of the body and from which the hot gases flow in a zigzag manner through the chambers, the d1- rection of movemeit in each chamber being opposite to that of zhe material moving over the platform, an inlet and an outlet for the material being'v dried, and an opening to permit the escape of the furnace gases after they have given up heat. i

4. In a drier, tho combination of a. port! .able hollowbody structure, e plurality of platforms located one above the other which extend from side lo side of the body and divide it into chaubers, said platformsbe.

f sa

"in the 'chambers' belowlv the platforms, a hop- "in a forms for breakin Y d let' orms'to move the may pr'aloiig 'the uppe'r surface "pulleyslfor the belts' w ich are passages at 4op site ends of crm, the under si e Iof each of and their Scrapers moving idly for feedin crm', means Amaterial to the up er platlow the ends of e platu` .the 'material as it is discharged and w icA `also serve to direct the-hot gases, an outletor the-dried ma.- terial,- ,a furnace located below the platforms and at one end of the body,the ases from which flowl serially through the c ambers, an outlet for the ases communicating tween, thin metal platforms located one with the upper cham r, and means for driving the belts and Scrapers in adjaeen chambers in opposite directions.

5. In a drier, the combination of a hollow body structure, wheels for the same whereb it may be moved from place to 4place, atforms that divide theinterior of the ody into chambers which communicate serially with each other, a hopper for feeding material to one end of the top platform, means'A for moving the material. along each platform, comprising side chains which are connected by transverselyl extending Scrapers' that move over the upper face ofl the platform, inclined members which receive the material from one'platform, break up its mass, and deliver 'it to the next, distrib'uters which assist ,in spreading and levelingr the material 'between said Scrapers, means for holding the distributers yieldingly in place, and a furnace located at the lower part of the body and from which the hot gases flow through the chambers.

6. In a drier, the combination of a double walled body structure, steering wheels mounted under one end `of the body, a pair of wheels locatcdat the opposite end, a U- shaped axle to which' the wheels are colinected, a furnace located betweenuthe axle means in each chamber for .moving the ma# terial to be dried lengthwise -of the plat- 'forms in succession first in one direction and then in another, a source of-power, devices connecting said source with said means to move them in opposite directions, an out- -let for the dried material, and an outlet for the fire gases after they have given' up heat to the material; I

7. In a. drier, the 'combination of a portable bodv structure having double walls made of thin metal with an-air space beabove the other which extend lengthwise of the body to form chambers and are separated rom the walls thereof at the ends by vertical passages, ay doo'i` which forms one wall of the bodyand which when -opened affords access tosaid chambers, Scrapers which move the material to be dried inthin layers over the'platformsI-so that the hot gases act directly on the to'p of each layer and ,indirectly through the platforms on the under side of each layer, pulleys located in said vertical passages, belts for moving the Scrapers which pass over the pulleys,- the under sides of said belts 'passing idly through the chambers below each platform,

a source' of power for -moving the pulleys and belts, inclined members that direct the material discharged from one platform on bers .in succession, and an outlet for the exhaust gases. i

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my'handjthis 30th day of March, 1916.

MYRN. T. CASS. 

